All Roads Lead to Rome

How to get to Rome, Italy—by plane, train, and bus

First of all, you're going to need some plane tickets. That's easy; just follow my step-by-step guide to

finding the cheapest airfare every time.

And don't forget to canvas the new, alternative transatlantic carrier EuroFly, which often undersells Alitalia and the other major airlines. (I flew Eurofly last fall to Sicily, and it was fantastic: good service, comfy seats, and even the latest in seat-back screen technology, allowing me to pick my own movies and other entertainment from a menu of options.)

Arriving by Plane

For more info on Rome's airports, dial tel. 06-65-951 for Fiumicino, tel. 06-794-941 for Ciampino, or go to the Aeroporti di Roma Web site at www.adr.it.

Most international flights land at

Leonardo da Vinci International Airport,

usually called

Fiumicino Airport

, 29km (18 miles) west of the city.

To get to downtown Rome from Fiumicino airport,

follow the treni signs for half-hourly (6:37am–11:37pm)

nonstop trains

to the main rail station, Stazione Termini (trip time: 35 min.). There's also a

local train

every 15 minutes (every 30 minutes on Sunday) to the Tiburtina station (45 min.) from the same tracks. (Get off at Ostiense and walk to the Piramide Metro stop to catch the B line to Termini.) A

taxi

to/from the airport costs a flat fee of €60, including luggage, for up to four people (pretty much demolishing the argument for starting the new flat fee system in 2007, when it was set at a far more reasonable €40).

Many charter and continental flights land at the smaller

Ciampino Airport,

15km (9 miles) south of the city. The easiest but priciest way

to downtown Rome from Ciampino

is the Terravision

shuttle bus

(tel. 06-7949-4572; www.terravision.it), which has departures timed to arrivals of major flights; it arrives downtown at the Hotel Royal Santina at Via Marsala 22, near Termini.

The more common route downtown (at one-fourth the total price) is the

public COTRAL bus

(tel. 800-150-008; www.cotralspa.it) outside the terminal; it leaves about twice an hour for the 20-minute trip to Anagnina, the terminus of Metro line A, where you can grab a subway to Stazione Termini. A

taxi

to/from the airport will cost €40, including luggage.

Arriving in Rome by Train

For train information in Rome, dial tel. 06-4730-6599 (or toll-free in Italy 800-888-088), or visit www.trenitalia.com.

For train station info in Rome, go to www.romatermini.it.

There are at least three trains an hour from Florence (1.5–3.5 hr.), 13 direct trains daily from Venice (4.5–7 hr.), hourly runs from Milan (4.5–9 hr.), and two to three runs hourly (at least once an hour on Sundays) from Naples (2–2.5 hr.).

Although a few long-haul trains stop only at the Tiburtina station in the southern part of the city,

Rome's main train station is Stazione Termini

on the expansive Piazza dei Cinquecento.

Arriving in Rome by Bus/Coach

For more on the city layout of Rome—main roads, piazzas, and neighborhoods—click here.

Rome has coach connections with every major Italian city, but

it's preferable to travel by train

—the price is about the same, and bus trips are longer and less comfortable.

However, buses can be handy (but crowded) when the rail system goes in sciopero (on strike)—not as common as in the 1980s and 90s, but it still happens a few times a year.

For 24-hour info on all bus lines in and out of Rome, call (toll-free in Italy) tel. 800-431-784.

Most intercity buses arrive near Stazione Termini or at one of several suburban bus stations, especially Tiburtina (that, and all the others, are at or near a Metro stop).